ABSTRACT
These show that of the twelve regidores of Santo Domingo (offices which had become hereditary by then76) at least nine were millowners. So intent had these men become on improving their properties that they were accused of no longer looking after the public welfare as was their duty. In order to increase the number of Negroes working in their mills, it was reported, they had reduced the size of their cattle herds which supplied much of the city's meat. This caused food prices to soar and a famine to occur in the city. Other evil effects were reported. This attack may be attributed in part to partisan back-stabbing but the concurrence on details of several documents of this period suggests that there was at least a kernel of truth in the accusations. One may conclude, then, that the ownership of sugar mills and plantation lands conferred on a select group in the colony both great local power and a commanding voice in the affairs of the whole colony. The extent of this influence cannot be established until studies have been made of the cattle and other industries on the island but the major importance of sugar planters is undeniable.
